BSO — 2026/05/02

 This evening's concert is the last of the season. WCRB gives us the basics; https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-08/slobodeniouk-and-beethovens-ninth-with-the-bso-and-tfc

Saturday, May 2, 2026
8:00 PM

1. For the final concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 season, Dima Slobodeniouk conducts the BSO and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in John Adams’ spaciously pulsating Harmonium and, with four stellar soloists, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and its “Ode to Joy.”.

   Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
   Andrea Carroll, soprano 
   Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano 
   Andrew Haji, tenor 
   Morris Robinson, bass 
   Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
   Jean-Sébastien Vallée, guest choral conductor

   John ADAMS Harmonium
   Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

The BSO performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/apr-30-may-3-adams-beethoven?performance=2026-05-02-20:00 gives access to performer bios as well as program notes when you click on the arrows next to the names of the performers or the pieces. There we also read the following:

Boston Symphony Orchestra Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor Andrea Carroll, soprano Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano Andrew Haji, tenor Morris Robinson, bass Tanglewood Festival Chorus Jean-Sébastien Vallée, guest choral conductorJohn ADAMS Harmonium       intermissionBEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9*  

*Performed in German with English supertitles

Returning for his second BSO program this season, Dima Slobodeniouk leads one of the American composer John Adams’ first major works, Harmonium for chorus and orchestra. Written in 1981 for the San Francisco Symphony, this grand, half-hour work sets a poem by John Donne and two by Emily Dickinson in gradually unfolding, majestic textures. With its slowly evolving harmonic fields and rhythmic energy, Harmonium marked the future Pulitzer Prize winner and composer of the operas Doctor Atomic and Nixon in China as an important and original voice in American music. Beethoven's larger-than-life, ecstatic Symphony No. 9 closes the season. 

I suppose we all know what to expect with the Beethoven, but the Adams will be new to me, so I found the program note worth reading.

The review in the Intelligencer is very descriptive. https://classical-scene.com/2026/05/01/brisk-symphony/

I recommend listening.

BSO — 2026/04/25

 This evening the BSO gives us five pieces by Russian coposers and one by Mozart. Here's their description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-08/boreyko-conducts-scriabin-rimsky-korsakov-and-prokofiev-with-kissin

Saturday, April 25, 2026
8:00 PM

In his first appearance with the BSO since 2015, star pianist Evgeny Kissin performs two contrasting concertos: Mozart’s charming and poignant Concerto No. 12, and Scriabin’s rhapsodic Piano Concerto. Andrey Boreyko leads this sparkling, Russian-leaning program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliantly colorful Russian Easter Overture and featuring three atmospheric tone poems by Anatoly Liadov from the early 20th century.

Andrey Boreyko, conductor
Evgeny Kissin, piano

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Russian Easter Festival Overture
W. A. MOZART Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414 
Anatoly LIADOV Baba Yaga
LIADOV The Enchanted Lake
LIADOV Kikimora
Alexander SCRIABIN Piano Concerto

In a conversation with CRB's Brian McCreath, conductor Andrey Boreyko reveals the connections between the arrangement of the musicians of the orchestra and music from the Russian tradition, as well as the unique qualities of Scriabin's Piano Concerto and Evgeny Kissin's interpretation of it. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Andrey Boreyko, 

We also have the summary on the BSO's own performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/apr-23-25-rimsky-korsa-scriab?performance=2026-04-25-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andrey Boreyko, conductor Evgeny Kissin, piano RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Russian Easter Overture  MOZART Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414       intermissionLIADOV Baba Yaga  LIADOV The Enchanted Lake  LIADOV Kikimora  SCRIABIN Piano Concerto  

This exciting and unusual

 program features acclaimed soloist Evgeny Kissin performing two strongly contrasting concertos. Composed to appeal to audiences in Mozart’s new home of Vienna, the Concerto No. 12 is by turns charming and poignant, its second movement a touching tribute to his late friend Johann Christian Bach. The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Concerto, composed more than 100 years later, is rhapsodic and Romantic. The BSO has only played Scriabin’s concerto on two prior occasions, most recently in 2001. Andrey Boreyko leads this sparkling, Russian-leaning program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliantly colorful Russian Easter Overture and featuring three atmospheric tone poems by Anatoli Liadov from the early 20th century.

As usual, performer bios and program notes are avsilsble when you go to the BSO page and click on the arrows.

So far there is no review in the Globe, bt the Intelligencer has a favorable one. https://classical-scene.com/2026/04/25/bso-boreyko-kissin/#comment-49107

This should be worth hearing.

B BSO — 2026/04/18

 This evening we get two second-tier staples sandwiching a sort of world premiere. Here's WCRB's synopsis: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-08/malkki-the-jussens-and-a-bso-world-premiere

Saturday, April 18, 2026
8:00 PM

Dutch duo-pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen perform a BSO-commissioned piece written for them by American composer and Grawemeyer Award-winner Andrew Norman. Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki also leads the BSO in Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances and Ravel’s beloved Mother Goose suite.

Susanna Mälkki, conductor
Lucas and Arthur Jussen, pianos

Maurice RAVEL Mother Goose Suite
Andrew NORMAN Split, for two pianos and orchestra (world premiere; BSO co-commission)
Sergei RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

In a preview of the program, Susanna Mälkki describes the character and challenge of Andrew Norman's Split, why Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances is one of her favorite pieces, and what she looks for in building effective artistic relationships with orchestras.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Susanna Mälkki, who's back with the Boston Symp

It turns out Split was originally composed in a version for one piano over ten years ago. The composer has reworked itinto the two piano version which the BSO is premiering this week.

More information, including performer bios and program notes, are available at the BSO performance detail page, where we see the following:

Boston Symphony Orchestra Susanna Mälkki, conductor Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Pianos RAVEL Mother Goose Suite  Andrew NORMAN Split, for two pianos and orchestra (world premiere; BSO co-commission)       intermissionRACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances  

Popular Dutch duo-pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen return to Symphony Hall for a BSO-commissioned world premiere. This music was written especially for them by American composer Andrew Norman, winner of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for his orchestral work Play. Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite brings the composer’s mastery of orchestral color to his fairy-tale suite, originally written for piano, four-hands. Closing the program is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s tour-de-force for orchestra, by turns powerfully energetic and meltingly lyrical: his Symphonic Dances, the composer’s final work.

So far I don't see any reviews in either the Globe or the Intelligencer.

I was at the Friday afternoon performance. The Ravel was fine but unexciting. The Jussen brothers were excellent. Unfortunately the music they and the orchestra had to play was mostly loud and unappealing (to me anyway). The brothers would have something nice and then the orchestra would crash in. A musician might see something worthwhile or admire the composer's technique, but it was lost on me. Maybe I'll like it better over the radio this evening. The Jussens certainly deserved the enthusiastic applause they got. I paid closer attention to the Stravinsky than I do when it's being played as part of the regular radio programming and functions nore as background music. So I noticed parts (mostly softer ones) which usually escape my attention. It's a pretty good piece if not up to the level of the greatest compositions of all time.

Bottom line: it's worth listeningg to the concert, especially if the Jussens give us an encore.

B BSO/Classical New England — 2026/04/11

 This evening WCRB gives us the concert which was performed two weeks ago. Here's their description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-04-07/american-icons-adams-nixon-in-china-and-dvoraks-new-world

Saturday, April 11, 2026
8:00 PM

Opera luminaries Thomas Hampson and Renée Fleming perform three scenes from John Adams’ groundbreaking Nixon in China with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Inspired by Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China, Nixon in China is considered one of the most consequential operas in American history. After, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony in Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony, which was composed when Dvořák's was living in the U.S. Bursting with sweeping melodies, Dvořák's Ninth Symphony blends Bohemian soul with the spirit of America.

John ADAMS Three Scenes from Nixon in China     
Antonín DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World  

This concert was recorded on March 28, 2026 at Symphony Hall.

The BSO performance detail page puts it like this: https://www.bso.org/events/mar-26-28-adams-dvorak?performance=2026-03-28-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor Renée Fleming, soprano (Pat Nixon) Thomas Hampson, baritone (Richard Nixon) Tanglewood Festival Chorus Lisa Wong, guest choral conductorJohn ADAMS Three Scenes from Nixon in China*       intermissionDVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World  

*Performed with English supertitles

John Adams’ Nixon in China redefined opera by taking as its subject matter recent world events. Opera luminaries Thomas Hampson and Renée Fleming bring excerpts from this groundbreaking work to the Symphony Hall stage. Nixon in China established Adams as the most significant opera composer of the past 50 years. Composed while the Czech Antonín Dvořák was living in the U.S., the New World Symphonybursts with sweeping melodies, blending Bohemian soul with the spirit of America and incorporating the sounds and songs of both worlds into the iconic and oft-quoted work we know today.

The program notes are still available and may be interesting.

There is a nice review https://classical-scene.com/2026/03/28/bso-icons/ in the Intelligencer. The Globe review https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/28/arts/andris-nelsons-bso-dvorak-ovations/?event=event12 is more a news story, and is tepid when it comes to the performances.

I saw a performance of Nixon in China once. One line that has stuck with me is when the Nixons are in their hotel room reminiscing about their experience during WWII, and he says, "The Pacific Theater was nothing to write home about."

I think the show should be worth listening to.